Remington 742

Hey all. Hopefully someone can help me out on here. I have a Remington 742 Woodsmaster probably about 30 years old. It is a .308 with the short carbine barrel. I love this little gun, it shoots great and it small and easy to carry around the woods. Well, its been acting up a lot so it's been in the closet for about two years since I last shot it. It's got two issues with it actually:

1: The screw that holds the forearm stock on is stripped. Last time I shot it the stock came off and the scope hit me in the forehead, ouch. I am actually unsure if it's the screw or the piece on the barrel that's stripped.

2: It doesn't eject properly. About every other round doesn't eject all the way and gets jammed in the action. I have noticed a hairline crack in one of the sliding parts(not sure of its name). I think the crack causes it to get stuck and not go all the way back, but I don't know for sure.

I brought the gun to a couple of local gun shops and they say the gun is a lost cause and nothing can be done. I tried to call Remington today to no avail. Does anyone know for sure if it's a lost cause or should I try another gunsmith? Any recommendations for a good gunsmith in southeast Louisiana? Also, someone told me I could send it back to Remington and get a new gun for a discounted price. Do they even make a gun comparable with the short barrel? I really like this gun so I just don't want to give up on it yet.

I have a 742 308 and it knocks down deer and elk. I would try another gun smith. Numrich has all the parts and it sounds like your action assembly may have a problem. The ejector may be dirty or need a new spring. Good luck!

It's a great rifle and .308 is an excellent caliber. It's worth trying to repair it before getting rid of it.

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I know that on the 742's the clip can cause malfunctions (try a new clip) or too much earl will jam those babies up. A buddy of mine 742 had the same problem, I cleaned it real good with Gun Scubber and changed the clip, no mo problems. Remember, go easy on the oil in all auto-loaders.

Thanks for all the comments guys. I have actually changed the clip to no avail. I even tried another one to see if I got a bad one. No luck. So now I have two brand new clips, lol. The piece that is broken is metal, but I have no idea what you call it. When the action slides back, its the piece that is right next to the gun itself. The broken piece actually comes up and slides up against the gun. I think that is most of the problem, but I can't say for sure. I will definitely try another gunsmith, sometime after the holiday season. Happy Holidays!!

Here's my .02 on the subject. I'm pretty sure what your local smiths are trying to say is it would take more to fix it than what it would be worth even after fixed. I've personally seen it many times. It would be akin to putting a 2,000$ set of wheels or an 2,000$ engine in an 1,000$ car. See what I mean? Naturally it's impossible to determine wether it's worth fixing without seeing it 1st hand. I wish I had an 100$ bill for every Remington 740/742/7400 over the years. The VAST majority of problems stem from extraction and cycling. It was just weak design. If nothing was wrong with the basic design, they wouldn't have changed the functional design 4 times over the years-they would just have changed cosmedic design and called it a day. Yes, I realize thousands of them provide a lifetime of service without ever malfunctioning, but the fact remains it wasn't the best of designs. Your rifle IS repairable but you have to decide if it's worth putting that kind of money in. IF it was ME, I'd make it a wallhanger and replace with an Browning bar or 1 of the newest designed Remington model 750s. Remington Changed the location of the gas port in the model 750 in order to get more consistant gas port pressure. Also,they DO make the model 750 in both rifle (22") barrel length, and carbine (18.5") length barreled versions.

I had this problem with a newer 7400 several years ago. The dust cover you describe had cracked and was indeed causing a jamming problem. I removed it completely with the intention of replacing (still haven't) and the jamming ceased. This may or may not be your problem.

I've heard these rifles quipped "jam master" but in 20 years of using mine have never had a problem with the exeption of the cracked dust cover. Cleanliness seems to be the ticket.